Today I want to take a leaf from Derek Mansker’s Lego Jar posts. It’s random time! My 4 and 2 yo grandchildren were here for a week recently. The older one (boy) had the green-eyed monster taking over all week. You see, he has a fractured clavicle, and had to sleep in another bed and not with Grandma and Marilyn. He was so not happy. So all week if she hugged, he hugged; if she wanted something, he wanted it. What a week it was!!! We all survived though.

Today was go home day. Grandson has decided his family needs to move here and become my neighbors. Then he could come and see me every day like he does my dad right now. At lunch, he spent about 15 minutes making a very detailed map. As we headed toward the meeting place to give them back to the parents, he was peering closely at his map. I went a different way to the interstate, and he said, “Grandma, you’re going the wrong way. You have to go that way (pointing). I explained the different route. He kept looking at the map all the way and pointing out when we reached certain places. He’d say something like, “Yup, that’s it. You gotta go this way to get to my house, Grandma.” If you can make anything out of this map, let me know. It looks like a mess to me, but he was very serious about following it. I hope he’ll be that serious about following God’s map for his life!

Marilyn (2) didn’t want to go home today. She kept taking my face and saying, “You MY gramma!” before kissing me. So sweet! Wouldn’t it be great if we loved God so much that we grabbed ahold of Him and said, “You MY God!” on a regular basis? We’re always wanting a blessing from Him, but how often do we seek to bless Him?

Last week, when we went down to pick up the kids (and work on Son’s trailer), Marilyn kept trying to sneak off with a honey packet my Dad had on his tray. She finally stomped her foot and said, “It’s fo my mouth!” She didn’t get it, but that was so hard to resist! Do we long for the temporary “sweetness” of sin?

When we arrived to pick them up, I was met at the van by the two youngest. Roland was jumping around and excited for about 10 feet. Then he suddenly remembered his fractured clavicle. He stopped, bent the hurt shoulder down and put his hand on it, moaned, and walked like that the rest of the way. Hmmm. All week he would suddenly remember his injury when it was convenient. Do we have ‘convenient’ injuries we use as an excuse not to do something for God or others?

I have no doubt that my youngest granddaughter is the smartest of the 4. Why? She’s very good at flying under the radar. When Marilyn gets quiet, it’s time to PANIC! You can be certain she’s doing something she’s not supposed to do. The picture shows one incidence that happened this week.

She took the inside out of a marker. Fortunately, soaking in soapy water returned all but under her nails to the right color. Grandma had a few blue spots though. What do we do when we think no one is looking? Do we think it’s ok to do what we want as long as we don’t get caught?

We’re going light today. This is week three in the go-to-grandma’s-alone-for-a-week saga. I love this one-on-one time! Well, I love it most of the time. You wouldn’t think it would be so exhausting.

Week 1: Marilyn, age 2.

Week 2: Kerstin, age 10

Week 3: Klarissa, age 8

Week 4: Roland, age 4

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So far, Klarissa has made >20 necklaces, bracelets or rings. Most of them are with yarn and straw

Chevron bead and Indian glass bead strings (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

beads, but still. If the kids had their way, they would go through every craft item I own in 3 days. This week, Klar, who is now old enough, is learning how to “create” instead of slapping a paper full of items she likes. She’s not happy with the concept, but she’s doing well so far. Grandma is VERY anal about my craft stuff. She spends hours cutting pictures out of magazines and gathering various other components. That equates to hours for a few minutes of joy. Is it worth it? You betcha!

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Hello Kitty (TV series) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today, Klar let me sleep in a bit. We then made some items with my “real” beads. Next Fiesta Brava for lunch. This is the favorite restaurant of all time for both of my oldest grandchildren. Why? Who knows, but Gma likes it too, so we’re good. She chose Fiesta Brava over McDonalds and the play land!!! Then we took off to shop at Joanne’s Fabrics. We spent an hour ‘shopping’. We didn’t buy much and I thought maybe she wasn’t having a good time, but we got in the car and she said, “That was fuuuuuuuun!” Ok, Grandma, quit assuming and just be!

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We got a Hello Kitty fleece for her “Gma’s house” blanket. I tried to talk her into something else, because this will be her forever blanket. She insists she will never stop loving Hello Kitty 😀 She does have some competition with the 2 yo, however. We also got stuff from the dollar bin to keep her busy for the evening so I can do some things???? We’ll see. Not looking good so far.

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Ok, back to that highlighted phrase up there. Why do I have so much trouble just being and just letting things be? I think it’s about people pleasing. I do like to make people happy, but at times I set myself up because no one can maintain that forever. I am learning slowly. I tell the gks that I am not the entertainment committee. I do plan to do things with them, but I don’t have to be paying attention to them every minute of every day. This is true even on their alone week.

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I want to teach them how to entertain themselves. I also want to teach them about boundaries. The red head (Klar) has a habit of coming up to me and

Things the Grandchildren Should Know (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

dancing and singing for me without waiting to see if I want to do that at the moment or not. It doesn’t work out well for her because I am trying to teach her to ask people instead of telling them what to do or what she is going to do. As I type this, she has not stopped talking to me. I have not once answered her or even looked up, but she keeps right on going. She has fixed me food, danced and just talked (her nickname is jabber jaws). Not sure what that’s all about, but it’s not something that will make her life easier for her in the long run. She’s much better at entertaining herself than most of her siblings, but she’s also very bossy.

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I took a break to get her to find something else to do. It’s really hard to write with other words pouring over me at the same time as mine are trying to form coherent sentences and ideas.

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My grandchildren are not the only ones who behave this way. Remember when children were seen and not heard? That was a long time ago. Now children seem to often be the center of the world. A product of the self-esteem movement? Probably that and more. It makes me sad, however, because these children are in for a world of hurt when they get into the big bad world and find out it’s not all about them any more. Then they whine. Oh yes they do!!! I don’t want to work those hours (or I don’t want to work at all). I can’t afford food (as they pull their cell phone out of their pocket….) TV, Computer, electronics ad nauseum are necessities. You get the point. I’m sure you have come across this.

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That’s one reason I try so hard to invest into the lives of my grandchildren (and others). I want them to learn these lessons now, before it’s too late. I have a great time with them during their week, but it’s about so much more than that. This time with them gives me an opportunity to mold them and teach them, as I love them.

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I’m sorry if this seems a bit random; it is. It is me thinking ‘aloud’. And sometimes, that’s OK. So back I go to my overarching purpose: planting seeds into my grandchildren.

Yesterday, my granddaughter found my knitting looms. She put one on her head and walked around going, “I princess!” She also loaded herself up with treasures (jewels) from Grandma’s treasure box. (A box of kids ‘treasures’ they are allowed to play with.) She wasn’t very cooperative with Grandma trying to get a picture, but here she is:

“I Princess!”

Oh for the trust of a 2 year old! She is fully aware that she is special with no doubts whatsoever. The day before we were having a discussion about who loves her. To my surprise, she said, “Gramma luv me.” She then proceeded to go down the list, “Jesus luv me”, “Daddy luv me”, “Mommy luv me”, and so on. Wow!

Later, during the quiet hours after she has gone to sleep and Grandma is nodding off, God reminded me that “I Princess!” So much of life rubs away at that trust as we proceed through life. Harsh words, hurt feelings, and worse happen to us and we internalize it, thinking something is wrong with us instead of the other person. I’m not sure I’ve ever met an adult who does not have or has had self-esteem issues. That little devil sits on our shoulder whispering lies to us about the events of our lives.

Grandpa: “Linda was so cute when she….”

The enemy’s whisper: “See, he doesn’t think you’re cute or he wouldn’t talk about her all the time.”

The truth: He is talking about Linda because she is not there and I am.

This is but one minor example of how we take someone’s actions or words and make it all about us when, in reality, it may (and probably does) have nothing at all to do with us. I see this clearly in my grandchildren as they pout over perceived slights, holler ‘not fair’, or act out to take attention from another. Ah, that sin nature makes itself seen so early!

As Grandma, I try to counter those lies when I see them. Unfortunately, they don’t always listen or understand. As adults, it is imperative that we look back through those hurts in our lives and shine some truth on them. We all know people who are bitter and negative because of “all the things that happened to them”. It’s not pretty. Their lives are not pretty. They spread their poison to everyone who enters their lives. How sad!

What lies have you believed? Do you recognize that God and many others really love you, like you, and want to be with you? Do you understand that you are a ‘prince’ or ‘princess’. Do you understand how much God loves you and how much He wants to do for, through, and with you? Have you allowed the truth to eradicate the negative feelings or behaviors you have picked up over the years? Do you realize that you only see part of a picture?

I hope next time you start feeling down about yourself or your accomplishments, you will put on your crown and say, “I Princess!” or “I Prince!” and bask in the love that has been freely given to you. YOU are SPECIAL!